KHPC: Tear down or fix up Miller Building in downtown Kirksville

City's historic preservation commission voted to order building's owner to bring aging structure to code or tear it down

Taylor Muller/@TaylorMullerKDE

A longstanding downtown building could be on the demolition block with the Kirksville Historic Preservation Commission ordering either significant repairs to bring it up to city code or its complete demolition.

The owner of the downtown Miller Building, located at 215 S. Franklin St., will be ordered by the city to either repair the aging structure up to code or demolish it with the KHPC signing off on the order Wednesday.

The building was originally constructed in 1916 and has housed commercial businesses as recently as early 2013 but is in a state of significant disrepair and the focus of several municipal court cases with the city demanding some amount of renovation or upkeep work on the building.

"It's been in a fairly sad state of condition for awhile now," Codes and Planning Director Brad Selby told the commission.

The city had taken the building's owner Charles Cannaday to municipal court and had been negotiating renovation work with him until his passing in January.

The building's ownership since transferred to Cannaday's sons Charles Miller and Jeffrey Cannaday.

Selby said the multi-story building which has also served as an apartment building has significant structural damage and while some demolition work had been done on the upper floors, work had halted and the city was left with little option to spur work along.

"We can't get compliance with anything," Selby said, referring to efforts to arrange a gradual renovation or repair of broken windows.

A remodeling permit was issued for the building in February 2012, but since then little progress has been made with many windows still open and pieces of glass and brick falling from the structure.

The commission voted in favor of ordering a demolition or repair of the building with member Phillip Biston abstaining from the vote citing his own business interests in downtown Kirksville.

The decision was brought to the full commission after the three-person demolition committee elected to abstain making a decision citing the building's historical nature and location in the downtown district.

"It is a large very prominent downtown building that has historical value," Selby noted, adding that the building is not on the city's list of local historical landmarks or any other state or federal list.

With the commission's approval, the Miller Building's owners will have generally about 30 days to either begin the massive repairs would need to include structural work or make arrangements to have the building demolished.

Selby said extensions are typical and would be willing to give the owners potentially up to 90 days for a resolution.

Before approving the demolition/repair order, the commission also discussed the potential use of state grant funding in the form of Community Development Block Grants to assist with the costs of demoing the property.

The competitive process would require a blight designation and also involve a lengthy application process, said Sarah Halstead, city staff.

"It would be a joint effort and would have to be in dilapidated condition," Halstead said, noting the property owners would need to sign off on the application before it could be submitted for consideration.